Los Angeles Lakers: 3 cost efficient options at center with DeMarcus Cousins out

Joakim Noah

Here we come to the most interesting of the three options. Joakim Noah, who was essentially done with the NBA after New York, found a home in Memphis last season and enjoyed some good moments. His long rivalry with James going back to the Chicago and Miami days is the story here, but teaming up would cure that rivalry.

Noah played well in his 42 game stint in Memphis, and although he will never be the same player he once was in Chicago, the goal for Los Angeles is finding a cost-efficient center that can provide a small boost. Noah has the experience that could help the Lakers and his grit and grind will help the team as the season wears on and get into opponents heads once the postseason rolls around.

Playing in 16.5 minutes per game last season, Noah turned in averages of 7.1 points and 5.7 rebounds on 51.6% shooting from the field. He has always been known as a decent free throw shooter from his position and he continued that by shooting 71.6% from the line.

Memphis was not a very good team last year. They seemingly tanked to get a top draft pick and that paid off as they landed one of the best players in the draft in Ja Morant. But when looking at the overall picture Noah was one of the bright spots in a difficult season for the franchise.

The advanced metrics showed Noah can still play as his offensive rating was 103.5 and his defensive rating was 101.7. Although offensively that is below standards, his defense is still considered in the really good status, and a positive net rating of 1.8 is good for a Memphis team that mostly had guys grade out negatively.

Being in a better offense would help Noah improve his offensive rating. His defense is still really good and could help this Lakers team become one of the best defensive teams in basketball providing a guy that can come in and still play down low with bigger guys.

Noah shouldn’t receive any offers above a veteran minimum and the Lakers should be reaching out to gauge interest there. He would be my second option behind Faried, he wouldn’t provide near the offense but his defense would be far better